What is Massage Now?

Massage is a healing modality, which is becoming more recognized as a legitimate alternative avenue to address physical, mental and emotional concerns. The old paradigm where a massage therapist works on a client with the aim to de-stress is phasing out. The new paradigm is one where the massage therapist and the client work together to meet the client’s healing goals, wherein the massage therapist becomes a facilitator in the healing process.

Communication within this new cooperative healing model is the key. Without communication, there can be no trust in the process. The client won’t trust that the massage therapist is clued into his concerns. In addition, the massage therapist won’t know the best technique to apply towards a maximum benefit for the client.

Researcher Albert Mehrabian found that less than 10% of a person’s credibility is determined by spoken words. The average length of time for a first impression is 7 seconds. That means that a large majority of trust is built through nonverbal communication or body language. The responsibility of building and maintaining trust goes both ways.

The majority of what happens in the massage process in nonverbal. 80% of communication is nonverbal. As the client, don’t go into a session thinking that the massage therapist is the expert in your healing process. Remember, in the new paradigm, it is about cooperation. You are the leader in your massage session. The massage therapist is the facilitator, taking their cues from you on what tools to apply to help you. So communication of your needs is important.

Don’t discount the power of verbal communication. Words still count. Just because communication can be nonverbal, it doesn’t mean that you forget that, as the client, if the massage therapist is not meeting your healing needs, you simply lie there and take it.

You know yourself better than anyone else. Do not abdicate your trust and knowledge in yourself. Again, to repeat myself, the massage therapist simply facilitates your healing process. You lead, the massage therapist follows that lead.

Here are some tips on how to help you have a good massage session. Set your boundaries. Communicate those boundaries to your massage therapist. Have a safe word such as ‘halt’ to let the massage therapist know that something isn’t working for you.

You want to make your session worthwhile. If the massage therapist is hurting you with too much pressure, let her know to lighten up. Or go deeper, if you want more pressure.

That comes to another important point. In the old way of thinking, there is no gain without gain. In the new model, that doesn’t work. Pain is an indicator letting you know something is wrong. Yet there is good pain and bad pain.

Bad pain is when you are fighting the massage therapist’s pressure because it hurts in a bad way. The body can exert more than 2,000 pounds per square inch of pressure against the therapist; thereby, causing more injury than healing. However, don’t let pain stop you if it is the good version. Good pain is when you feel the hurt, but it doesn’t make you tense against it.

Massage is a nonverbal dance of coordinated movements with the aim to heal. More specifically, it is when the massage therapist manipulates your body tissues -whether by kneading, tapping or pulling - with the hands or an instrument for therapeutic purposes. Massage has evolved into a cooperative healing work. Most importantly, true healing is when you and the massage therapist are equal participants in your healing process.